Genetic material shed by tumors may be detected in the bloodstream 3 years prior to cancer diagnosis, according to a recent study published by Wang et al in Cancer Discovery.
Study Methods and Results
Researchers used highly accurate and sensitive sequencing techniques to analyze the plasma samples of 26 patients who were diagnosed with cancer within 6 months following sample collection and 26 patients who weren’t diagnosed with cancer, all of whom participated in the ARIC study—which investigated risk factors for heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and other cardiovascular diseases. They hoped to determine how early tumors could be detected prior to clinical signs or symptoms.
At the time of blood sample collection, eight of the participants scored positively on a multicancer early detection laboratory test and were diagnosed within 4 months following blood collection. The researchers were able to assess additional blood samples collected 3.1 to 3.5 years prior to diagnosis among six of these eight patients, four of whom had identifiable tumor-derived mutations in samples taken at the earlier timepoint. The researchers determined that they could detect cancer-derived mutations in the blood much earlier than previously understood.
“Three years earlier provides time for intervention. The tumors are likely to be much less advanced and more likely to be curable,” highlighted lead study author Yuxuan Wang, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Conclusions
“This study shows the promise of [multicancer early detection] tests in detecting cancers very early and sets the benchmark sensitivities required for their success,” emphasized senior study author Bert Vogelstein, MD, the Clayton Professor of Oncology and Co-Director of the Ludwig Center at the Johns Hopkins University.
“Detecting cancers years before their clinical diagnosis could help provide management with a more favorable outcome,” underscored co–study author Nickolas Papadopoulos, PhD, Professor of Oncology at the Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins University. “Of course, we need to determine the appropriate clinical follow-up after a positive test for such cancers,” he concluded.
Disclosure: The research in this study was supported in part by National Institutes of Health; the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, the Commonwealth Fund; the Thomas M Hohman Memorial Cancer Research Fund; The Sol Goldman Sequencing Facility at Johns Hopkins University; The Conrad R. Hilton Foundation; the Benjamin Baker Endowment; Swim Across America; the Burroughs Wellcome Career Award for Medical Scientists; the Conquer Cancer–Fred J. Ansfield, MD, Endowed Young Investigator Award; and The V Foundation for Cancer Research. For full disclosures of the study authors, visit aacrjournals.org.
